The fifth edition of the festival will feature its widest range of award-winning academics and writers for the stage and screen to date. What’s more they’re all FREE!
(*Though you do need to book in advance.)
Arts Week will be primarily hosted in and around 43-47 Gordon Square, former stomping ground of several members of the famous Bloomsbury set and now home to Birkbeck’s School of Arts.
With a completely free programme of 50 public events across performances, discussions, workshops, screenings, walking tours and book launches in the fields of art, literature, cinema, poetry, theatre, photography and more.
Headliners include author Toby Litt; dramatist David Eldridge (BBC’s The Scandalous Lady W) and Colin Teevan (RTÉ and Netflix series Rebellion, and current West End production of Faustus); an evening with playwright and screenwriter Patrick Marber (pictured) and academics from Birkbeck; including guests from Indigenous filmmakers in Sierra Nevada de Santa Maria, Colombia; the photography and film work of Amado Villafaña – a member of the Arhuaco people of Colombia – who will join the discussion over Skype.
Said Professor Hilary Fraser, Dean of Arts: ‘Whatever the topic, art form or period, our work is contemporary, in the sense that it explores issues of the moment and showcases new research. This can be seen in every corners of our engaging 2016 programme – the biggest yet in the festival’s history – in which top artists and academics in their fields address some of the most important issues that affect our society today.’
Can Journalism Change the World?
Tues 17 May, 6-7.30pm, 43 Gordon Square
BBC newsreader Emily Maitliss – will reflect on the relationship between journalism and social change in a post-digital, post-Snowden world. This event celebrates the launch of the new MA in Investigative Journalism at Birkbeck.
What’s My Cue?
Wed 18 May, 6-7.30pm, 43 Gordon Square
Artists from the Master of Fine Arts Theatre Directing programme will present a workshop performance exploring the idiosyncrasies of part scripts. The workshop will be followed by a panel discussion with Renaissance theatre historian Professor Tiffany Stern.
Walking Tours
Arts Week 2016 will feature a series of walking tours led by experts in their fields, offering members of the public the chance to explore the cultural and architectural history of such London hotspots as Covent Garden Piazza, Bloomsbury and the National Portrait Gallery.
You Must Mutate
Fri 20 May, 6-7.30pm, 43 Gordon Square
Senior lecturer in Creative Writing, Toby Litt, will launch his new collection of non-fiction essays, Mutants (Seagull Books, 2016). The event will also feature Toby in conversation with lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature, Caroline Edwards, focusing on the future of contemporary fiction in an increasingly fast-paced technological world.
Theatre Conversation: The Complete Deaths
Fri 20 May, 6-7.30pm, 43 Gordon Square
At the 2016 Brighton Festival, physical comedy ensemble Spymonkey will premiere The Complete Deaths – a compendious enactment of all 75 onstage deaths found in Shakespeare. Join the show’s director Tim Crouch and critic Andrew Dickson for a conversation about the deaths incarnated in Shakespeare’s plays and the show’s distinctive approach to reimagining them.
Birkbeck Arts Week 2016 runs from runs from May 16 to 20. To see the full programme of events
visit 
bbk.ac.uk/artsweek, at facebook.com/BirkbeckArts
or on Twitter @birkbeck_arts
